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Statement on CBO Estimates Regarding Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 15, 2017
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Jeff Van Ness, (202) 204-7515
STATEMENT OF ACAP CEO MARGARET A. MURRAY ON
CBO ESTIMATES REGARDING COST-SHARING REDUCTION PAYMENTS
WASHINGTON—Margaret A. Murray, CEO of the Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP), made the following statement on the recent report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) which modeled effects of the discontinuation of cost-sharing reduction passthroughs to insurers:
“A net deficit increase of nearly $200 billion over 10 years; additional premium increases of 20 to 25 percent; less competition; fewer choices; higher prices. The upside is hard to see.
“Cost-sharing reduction payments are a passthrough from health plans to consumers who qualify for cost-sharing reductions through Marketplace plans owing to low incomes. More than 85 percent of Marketplace consumers benefited from such payments, which totaled $4.9 billion in 2015. These payments are estimated to total $7 billion this year, or about 15 percent of premium.
“As the CBO report shows, stopping these payments won’t save money, but will instead cost taxpayers tens of billions a year. It’s time for Congress to put an end to the continuing damage that this lingering, avoidable uncertainty is causing in the individual health insurance market by funding the CSRs through an appropriation.”
About ACAP
ACAP represents 60 nonprofit Safety Net Health Plans in 29 states, which collectively serve more nearly twenty million people enrolled in Medicaid, Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and other public health programs. For more information, visit www.communityplans.net.
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